This morning, I have a historical fiction novel to share! Check out Sunny Gale, learn about author Jamie Lisa Forbes, and read my thoughts on the book!
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It's 1895 and
fourteen year old Hannah Brandt is struggling with the hard life on a
new Nebraska homestead. When her imagination is captured by a wild filly
she becomes obsessed with horses, which opens the door to her destiny.
Just four years later she enters the first Cheyenne Frontier Day rodeo
where she wins the relay race and her fate is sealed. She gives herself a
new name, Sunny Gale, and pursues a rodeo career, much to the disgust
of her young husband and her very proper mother. Sunny defies convention
with every move as the drive to compete takes over her life, leaving
everything else behind, including husbands and children. It is a rough
life she has chosen, but she craves the glory of the spotlight and
refuses to bow to the expectations for a woman in her time.
Award winning author Jamie Lisa Forbes has once again brought us
complex characters in a story based on real women and the early days
when rodeo was wide open for them to become stars. It is a story of the
social mores of the times and of a woman determined to defy them no
matter how high the personal cost or where that choice might take her.
Realistic Historical Fiction with a Strong Female Lead. I knew little about rodeo life, horses or even life in historical Nebraska--but this book transported me to the life and times of Sunny Gale perfectly from the very first pages. From the harsh life and challenges to the main character's dreams, goals and strength, the author navigates Sunny's story from the days of her youth to her older years. Sunny's story feels so real that I had to double-check that it wasn't based on a real character, incorporating real diaries or stories from a real person. While Sunny is fictional, the author takes readers on an emotional journey to another time and place.
Strength, Perseverance, and Reflection. The book combines a young girl's story of struggle and triumph to achieve goals in the male-dominated rodeo world and an older woman's reflections on those accomplishments, losses and memories. Readers will find characters to love and hate throughout Sunny's story and a setting that immerses readers immediately into each page. The novel is well-developed, with a believable cast of characters and an even storyline that remains engaging from the first page to the last.
Would I Recommend Sunny Gale by Jamie Lisa Forbes? If you're a fan of historical fiction, women's fiction, westerns, or memoirs, this book offers a unique blend of genres that will transport you to the past. It's an emotional journey that will have you cheering for Sunny and a satisfying conclusion, all while tugging at your heartstrings. More than just a story, Sunny Gale also serves as an educational tool, shedding light on the challenges faced by a woman breaking barriers in a different era and place. I found the book engaging and look forward to reading more from this author.
Jamie Lisa Forbes was raised on a
ranch in the Little Laramie Valley near Laramie, Wyoming. She attended
the University of Colorado where she obtained degrees in English and
philosophy. After fourteen months living in Israel, she returned to her
family’s ranch where she lived for another fifteen years.
In 1994, she moved to Greensboro, North Carolina. In 2001, she graduated
from the University of North Carolina School of Law and began her North
Carolina law practice.
Forbes’ first novel, Unbroken, won the WILLA Literary Award for Contemporary Fiction in 2011. Her collection of short stories, The Widow Smalls and Other Stories, won the High Plains Book Awards for a short story collection in 2015.
Forbes’ novel of rural North Carolina in the segregation era, entitled Eden, was published in 2020. Her historical novel about women bronc riders in the early days of rodeo, entitled Sunny Gale, was published in May 2024 by Pronghorn Press.
Ms. Forbes continues to live—and write—in North Carolina.
Connect with the author: website ~ facebook ~ pinterest ~ X ~ goodreads
What an amazing and thoughtful review of my novel. I am very grateful. On behalf of women rodeo performers whose history was nearly erased, I thank you
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